THE PIONEER SPIRIT

As my visits with members of Local/Shared Ministry teams in the U.K. draw to a close, I was given a very special opportunity to learn about how it all came about from some of the real "pioneers" in the work of sharing ministry. Thanks to the thoughful efforts of the Liverpool branch of our Sabbatical Team, I was privileged to have several 1-on-1 visits with people who in pasty generations were willing to take the risk of offering the Church another way of developing and providing ministry in some very difficult settings.

For an ordinary parish pastor like myself, there is a temptation to focus one's attention on the ordinary, day-to-day, week-to-week activities that easily fill up the calendar. Add to those activities an unexpected funeral or an emerging crisis affecting a church member of family, and at the end of the week the pastor can rest comfortably with the confidence that he or she has done the Lord's work and done it well.

The people I met yesterday and today were quite different from us. They were probably considered "radicals" thirty of forty years ago because they were not willing to settle for "business as usual" with respect to the ongoing ministry of the Church. They looked at situations that others deemed as "hopeless" and, empowered by God's Spirit, they stepped out of the arbitrary boxes they were in and started to try out things that had the potential for bringing life and renewal into the lives of everyday Christians.

Not everything these pioneers tried to do actually succeeded, and although many others were hopeful that renewal could somehow come about in the churches, these pioneers were often quickly challenged by those who believed that the ideas put forth by these "innovators" and "experimenters" seemed too shaky or far out.

Imagine, however, what it would be like to try to teach theology or biblical criticism to a group of people whose ability to read and write was marginal at best, or ask yourself how you would teach people to lead "worship" with groups of people who had never even entered into a traditional Christian church or read a passage of scripture.

It is not easy to be a pioneer. It is hard to find the courage to go forward beyond the territory one is most familiar with. Although the Bible is full of stories about people who did just that, in modern times, especially in the church as we experience it, such pioneers are few and far between. Yet as we look to the future as the people of God in an increasingly secularized environment, we will need pioneering souls more than ever before. Thank God for the ones who showed such courage, and pray that God will raise up for us many more of them.